Vending machine



Dec. 28, 1937. w L, K EL 2,103,289

' VENDING MACHINE Original Filed May 19, 1935 I INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES T T OFFICE,

VENDING MACHINE William L. Kissel, Hartford, Wis., assignor to lraMilton Jones, Thiensville, Wis,

ApplicationxMay 19,1933, Serial No. 671,8 i6

Renewed May 5, 1937 'lClaim. (o1. s ze- 9s) Thisinvention relates tocertain new and useful improvements in vendingmachine s, andrefers moreparticularlyto machines of the type forme ing the subject matter of theco-pending application .of SherwoodzC..Ide, Serial No. 592,013,filedFebruary 10, 1932, now Patent No. 1,978,205.

In the machine of the aforesaid application, aseries of traysare carriedbya pair of spaced endless chains to convey articles to be vended past adisplay window in the enclosing housing and to a point of. discharge.The discharge of the selected article from the machine is effected bycoin controlled instrumentalities actuated by means of a manuallyoperable handle.

The endless chains forming the conveyer on which the article.supportingtrays are mounted, are trained about vertically spaced setsof sprockets, and the chains are driven about the sprockets by means ofa handle on the exterior of the machine; Normal actuation of thehandle'properly effects the desired motion of the conveyer, but it wasfound that if the conveyerwas actuated toorapidly or was quickly shiftedbackand forth, the articles idepositedon the trays were often throwntherefrom. 4 I

It is,.therefore, an object of thisinvention to provide means to holdthe, articl s against. accidental displacement from the trays. It isalso an object of this invention to provide novel means to move theguards or holding means provided to retain the articles on the trays, toinoperative positions during the tilting of the trays to effect thedischarge of articles therefrom.

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of a simplearticle retaining guard structure carried by each tray and held in itsoperative position by spring means.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the novel construction,combination and arrangement. of parts substantially as hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined by the appended claim, it beingunderstood that such changes in the precise embodiment of theherein-disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of theclaim.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated one complete example ofthe physical embodiment of my invention constructed according to thebest mode I have so fardevised for the practical application of theprinciples thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section view through the lower discharge endportion of a machine of thetype illustratedin the aforesaid application,serial No. 592,013, said view illustrating a tray, ready to be tilted; V

Figure 2 is a view similar to {Figure 1, but illustrating the traytilted and with, the associated parts in their discharging positions;

Figure 3 is e-fragmentary front view taken on the plane of the line 3-3of Figure 1, illustrating particularly the mechanism formoving the guardto inoperative position; and I I Figure 4 is a detail perspective viewof one of the trays illustrating the guard .appliedthereto.

Referringnow more particularly to theaccom panying drawing in which likenumeralsindi cate like parts throughout the several-views, the numeral 5represents the discharge chute of a vending machine of the typeillustrated in the aforesaid application. This chutecomprises spacedside walls 6 connected at the rear by an inclined curved wall 1.Thefront of the chute is A trap door 8, hingedly mounted from .the sidejwalls 6 as at 9, normally closesthe chute across its'top. The trap door8 is held in its closed position by a hook l0 carried by the door-and 25engaged with a latch II} The latch. is mounted to turn on a rodlZ-connectingthe side wanes and has areleasing finger I3, indicated indot and dash lines, with which a releasingmember (not shown) engages to.effect thetripping of the, latch. As the manner in which the" latch istripped and the mechanism for accomplishing this function forms no partof this invention, it has not been shown.

Upon tripping of the latch II, a spring l4 also illustrated in dot anddash lines, swings the trap door to its open position shown in Figure 2.One end of the spring is anchored as at I5 and the other end engages astud l6 carried by a gear sector I! fixed to the trap door. Inasmuch asthe gear sector I! is located at the forward side of the door withrespect to Figures 1 and 2, it has been indicated in construction lines.

Meshing with the sector IT is a gear sector I8, which forms part of amovable track section IS, (the sector l8 and the track section [9 beingindicated in dot and dash lines). This movable track section, asexplained in the aforesaid application, is operable to effect thetilting of the trays 20, one of which is shown in its dischargingposition in Figures 1 and 2. For this purpose, each tray has a dependingarm 2l '(shown in construction lines) carrying a roller 22, which, whenthe tray is in discharging position, engages the movable track sectionI9.

The tray is pivotally mounted as at 23 from arms 24 carried by theendless chains 25. Consequently, as the gear sector l8 turns about itspivotal mounting and. causes the movable track section IE) to swing, itcarries the tray with it and tips the same, from a horizontal position,shown in Figure 1, to a vertical position, shown in Figure 2, droppingthe contents. of. the tray down into the chute, whose trap door M hasbeen opened simultaneously with the tipping of the tray. As hereinbeforebrought out, diificulty has bee experienced in maintaining thearticleson. the trays. To' offset this disadvantage, the presentinvention contemplates the pro-vision ,of. guards indicated. generallyby the numeral 26, to hold the articles on the trays. The guards arepreferably formed of wire and comprise a bar 21 journalled inbearingscarried by one side wall 29 of the tray} Secured to the bar 21directly inwardly of the bearings 28 are two arched arms 30, theextremities of which are connected by a second longitudinal bar 3|. Asclearly illustrated in Figure 4, the bar 21 is located along the backwall 29 of the tray and the bar 31, when the guard is in-its normalposition shown in Figure 4, is disposed adjacent the front wall 32 ofthe tray.

The guard is held in its normal position arched over any article placedin the tray, by means of a torsion spring 33 coiled about the bar 21with one end 34 hooked over the adjacent arm 30'and its other end 35engaging the adj acent back wall 29. A lateral extension 36 on one endof the bar 21, by engaging the bottom wall 31 of the tray, serves tolimit the pivotal movement of the guard about the axisof the bar 21,efiected by the torsion spring 33.

It is, of course, obvious that if the article received in the tray is ofgreater height than the space beneath the guard, the guard will rest ontop of the article and hold the same in the tray with a spring tension.Articles are thus positively held in the trays and'are held againstbeing jarred or thrown therefrom by eXc'essiveactuation of the handlethrough which the conveyer chain is actuated to efiect a selection.

During the tilting of the trays to discharge their contents, it isnecessary that their guards 26 be moved to an inoperative position topermit the tray contents to drop therefrom. Forthis purpose, a novelguard opening means indicated generally by the numeral 38 is provided.This means comprises a bell crank lever preferably formed of wire andhaving a long arm 39 and a short arm 40, the lever being looselypivotally mounted on a stud 4| carried by a support 42 fixed to one sidewall of the chute.

. The short arm 4|) of the bell crank aligns with a notch 43 formed inthe front wall 32 of any tray in discharging position, and the adjacentend portion of the bar 3| of its guard. Hence, when the bell crank leveris pivoted about the stud 4|, its short arm, 40 passes through the,notch 43 and engages the adjacent end portion of the bar 3! to lift theguard.

Swinging movement of the bell crank lever is -effected by the engagementof its long arm 39 in a stud 44 loosely journalled on the outer end ofan arm 45 formed on the adjacent side portion of the trap door. Theengagement of the lever arm 39 in the stud 44 is freely slidable and asstated, the stud is free to turn in its mounting so that as the trapdoor is swung to its open position depicted in Figure 2, the bell cranklever will be swung about the stud 4| to thus move the guard to its openor inoperative position shown in Figure 2.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, thatthis invention affords a simple and effective guard to retain thearticles in their respective trays and that the release of theguard orits movement to inoperative position is effected in a simple positivemanner.

What I claim as my invention is:

In a vending machine, the combination of a discharge chute having adoor, an article supporting tray positionable alongside the door withthe ends of the tray and door substantially in line, and means tosimultaneously open the door and tilt the tray, a guard to hold anarticle on the tray, said guard being movable to release the article fordischarge and having'a part adjacent one end of the tray, means disposedat the adjacent end of the door and operable upon said part of the guardto move the guard to its inoperative position, and means at the same endof the door operable concomitantly with the opening of the door foractuating said guard engaging means.

WILLIAM L. KISSEL.

